Senator Sarah Henderson was back on Sky News last week, now renamed News24, calling on ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks to "shut down" commentary by Americas Editor John Lyons over his remarks on the US-Israel strikes against Iran.

Image of Senator Sarah Henderson: ABC News: Matt Roberts

Henderson described Lyons' analysis as "unsavoury," expressed concern that a pro-Palestinian social media account had reposted his comments, and called on Communications Minister Anika Wells to order an urgent independent investigation into the ABC's impartiality. A week later, she was back on the same program pressing the same demands.

For anyone who missed our February piece on the Senator's return to the communications portfolio: this is the pattern.

What did Lyons actually say?

John Lyons is one of Australia's most decorated foreign correspondents: four Walkleys, twice Australian Journalist of the Year, with extensive experience in Iran dating back to the 2009 post-election protests. When the government released a statement saying "Australia stands with the brave people of Iran in their struggle against oppression," Lyons questioned the framing on air and offered his assessment that the strikes went beyond the nuclear program issue.

Henderson characterised this as labelling the government's position "political propaganda." On that specific phrase, there is a fair question about whether opinion was sufficiently signalled as such on a news program. That's exactly what the ABC's own editorial complaints process exists to examine, not a platform for the Shadow Minister to demand the Managing Director silence a senior journalist mid-conflict.

A familiar timetable

In November 2025, Henderson moved a Senate motion for an inquiry into ABC impartiality. It was defeated. In February 2026, she returned to the communications portfolio. By early March, she was pushing the same inquiry — now with Iran coverage as fresh ammunition.

The broader context

Questions about editorial labelling of opinion, particularly on news programs covering a live military conflict, are legitimate, and the ABC's leadership should engage with them seriously. But there is a substantial difference between editorial accountability and a sustained political campaign against public broadcasting.

Senator Henderson has voted consistently to cut ABC funding across her 12 years in parliament. Her calls for "impartiality" have a curious tendency to arrive whenever the ABC reports something contrary to the Coalition's preferred narrative.

Australians deserve a fearless, independent public broadcaster. One accountable to its own editorial standards and to the public through proper regulatory mechanisms, not one calibrated to the demands of its political opponents.

Thousands of ABC Friends like you signed our petition late last year opposing an inquiry on Henderson’s terms. And when the vote came, the Senate agreed.

Phil Evans
Communications
ABC Friends